'Battlestar Galactica' veteran tapped to co-write 'Dark Tower' for TV

"Battlestar Galactica" and "Falling Skies" scribe Mark Verheiden was tapped this week to co-write the small screen extension of Stephen King's "The Dark Tower."

According to Deadline.com, Verheiden and Akiva Goldsman will co-write the NBC TV series that will serve as a bridge between the first and second movies in what is planned as a "Dark Tower" trilogy on the big screen.

The series and the feature films will be directed by Ron Howard, who will also produce the Universal Pictures and NBC Universal TV Entertainment productions.

Other small screen writing and producing credits for Verheiden include "Heroes," "Smallville" and, of course, "FreakyLinks."

Javier Bardem has been strongly linked to the franchise's lead role, but no casting as been officially announced.

actually, I'd prefer if you hateful blogs would lay off this movie. I actually SAW Passion Play at Toronto (unlike the rest of the rabid townsfolk with their pitchforks out) and loved it. So did the audience at my screening - why this level of hatred? It's not for everyone, but it is a beautiful, sad, well-acted film that will never have a chance... what an ugly cynical time we live in...

Ok, I'd really like to know. Bill Murray is in this movie, he's playing a Dad who is dying of cancer. Something was waaay off in October at the Scream awards. It wasn't just his behavior in the video afterwards, but also his appearance at, and shortly after that. Then, there's Amy Poehler saying he can sit during a taping of her show, and then there's the Comedy Awards. His behavior there was very suspiscious. Then, there was 4/15 at the Riverdogs. In an interview, he mentions the afterlife. There's also a February article in the Montgomery Herald where mention is made which casts doubt on a golf tournament including Murray, mentioning his health. I really want to know. Is Bill Murray dying from a terminal illness? I did some research in WebMd from what I could see for myself, and my fear is he has pancreatic cancer. That would break my heart, but I hope he will be kind enough to say so if something is going on. I am asking because I care about it, and I care about him.